Friday, 24 October 2008

Don't worry, be happy - for a while, anyway

I do not know whether Felix Dennis is an atheist or not, but I couldn't help thinking of these words about happiness from one of the world's richest men, when I considered the atheist's slogan, "stop worrying and enjoy your life":

Am I happy? No. Or, at least, only occasionally, when I am walking in the woods alone, or deeply ensconced in composing a difficult piece of verse, or sitting quietly with old friends over a bottle of wine. Or feeding a stray cat.

I could do all those things without wealth. So why do I not give it all away?

Because I worked too hard for it. Because I am tainted by it. Because I am afraid to. All those reasons and more. Perhaps if I am lucky enough to become old, I will accumulate something else: the courage to give it all away before I die. That would be a good thing, I think. (Felix Dennis, How to Get Rich, Ebury Press, 2007, 284-285)

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1 comment:

Honourable and honest thoughts,John, that(from what I have read) I am sure Felix Dennis agrees with completely.Your analysis of why you feel this way about keeping your wealth until just before you die is one that I also adhere to but can not actually put into practice as mine is significant in it's absence - in the financial sense that is. I don't know either if Dennis is atheist or not, but it seems to me that this is an irrelevance.If,as he states, that he intends to give away his vast wealth before he dies and hopes, as he advises others, to take up an new interest other than business,then very good luck to the man. Perhaps his new interest might be the study of theology, in which case his views may or may not change and his "future" after death may also. As may ours.